40 Faces of Death: A Grim Reaper Gallery

Here's another feminine Angel of Death, this time as featured in the 1895 painting "La mort du fossoyeur" (The Death of the Gravedigger) by Carlos Schwabe. We see the soul of an aged gravedigger claimed by a beautiful, virginal Death against the backdrop of a pristine, chilling winter landscape. His life of toil is at an end.

About the Author: Robert Lamb spent his childhood reading books and staring into the woods — first in Newfoundland, Canada and then in rural Tennessee. There was also a long stretch in which he was terrified of alien abduction. He earned a degree in creative writing. He taught high school and then attended journalism school. He wrote for the smallest of small-town newspapers before finally becoming a full-time science writer and podcaster. He’s currently a senior writer at HowStuffWorks and has co-hosted the science podcast Stuff to Blow Your Mind since its inception in 2010. In his spare time, he enjoys traveling with his wife Bonnie, discussing dinosaurs with his son Bastian and crafting the occasional work of fiction.